- #1 Dwarf Fortress
97% matchVery Positive95% of 30,806 reviews2022
Dev: Bay 12 GamesPub: Kitfox Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 5.5 hrsMean: 38.4 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world. Keep your dwarves happy, grow their community and beware of digging too deeply. The deepest, most intricate simulation of a world that's ever been created.
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.3% ★, Base Building 16.5%, Building 9%, Sandbox 8.8%, Survival 7.6%
Why You'll Like It: As the primary inspiration for Embark, it offers the deepest simulation and most complex world-generation mechanics in the genre.
- #2 RimWorld
96% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 236,346 reviews2018
Dev: Ludeon Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 59.1 hrsMean: 259.4 hrs≥1hr: 92%
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.6% ★, Base Building 16.8%, Survival 7%, Sandbox 6.3%, Moddable 6.1% ★
Why You'll Like It: It is the gold standard for colony management, focusing on emergent storytelling and deep social interactions between colonists.
- #3 Going Medieval
96% matchVery Positive89% of 20,287 reviews2026
Dev: Foxy VoxelPub: Mythwright
Windows
Median: 7.9 hrsMean: 30.8 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Build and manage your own castle settlement in a land reclaimed by wilderness. With detailed management, survival strategy, and a moddable sandbox world, Going Medieval challenges you to build the mightiest colony this side of the apocalypse.
Why similar: Colony Sim 36.9% ★, Base Building 15.8%, Sandbox 8.2%, Moddable 7.9% ★, Survival 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: This 3D colony sim features voxel-based building and multi-level construction that feels very similar to the spatial freedom in Embark.
- #4 Stonehearth
95% matchMostly Positive75% of 12,970 reviews2018
Dev: Radiant EntertainmentPub: (none)
Windows · Mac
Median: 14.1 hrsMean: 38.7 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Pioneer a living world full of warmth, heroism, and mystery. Help a small group of settlers build a home for themselves in a forgotten land. Establish a food supply, build shelter, defend your people, monitor their moods, and find a way to grow and expand, facing challenges at every step.
Why similar: Colony Sim 55.1% ★, Building 9.8%, Sandbox 9.2%, Survival 7.3%, Strategy 5.1%
Why You'll Like It: The voxel-based aesthetic and focus on building a settlement in a 3D world make it a direct stylistic and mechanical cousin to Embark.
- #5 Stranded: Alien Dawn
94% matchVery Positive85% of 10,890 reviews2023
Dev: Haemimont GamesPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 7.0 hrsMean: 24.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Brave a new world in Stranded: Alien Dawn, a planet survival sim placing the fate of a small marooned group in your hands. Forge your story through compelling and immersive strategic gameplay as you make vital decisions to protect your survivors.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34% ★, Base Building 24.6%, Survival 11.6%, Crafting 8.3%, Strategy 6.3%
Why You'll Like It: A 3D survival colony sim that emphasizes resource management and base defense against environmental threats.
- #6 Songs of Syx
94% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 7,777 reviews2020
Dev: Gamatron AB
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 14.9 hrsMean: 41.2 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Songs of Syx is a fantasy city-builder with vast battles simulating thousands of citizens and soldiers. Start off as a small village and build, scheme, and fight your way towards a mighty empire. The mechanics are deep and true to life, where tiny events can spiral into the collapse of kingdoms.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.1% ★, Base Building 15%, Sandbox 8.3%, Building 8.3%, Moddable 7.4% ★
Why You'll Like It: It captures the massive scale and deep simulation of Dwarf Fortress while allowing for thousands of individual units to inhabit your city.
- #7 Noble Fates
93% matchVery Positive83% of 1,455 reviews2021
Dev: Xobermon, LLC
Windows
Median: 3.4 hrsMean: 12.5 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Harness your Demigod powers to lead a group from rags to riches in this 3D Fantasy Kingdom Management Sim with RPG elements. Command from the sky or take control in 3rd Person to BUILD, BATTLE, and RULE. Navigate a world of interesting Nobles, earn their respect, and decide their Fates.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.3% ★, Base Building 16.2%, Sandbox 8.9%, Building 7.8%, Moddable 6.3% ★
Why You'll Like It: It combines 3D colony management with a strong emphasis on social dynamics and character relationships, much like Embark's Sims-inspired elements.
- #8 Odd Realm
92% matchVery Positive85% of 992 reviews2024
Dev: Unknown Origin Games Inc
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 6.9 hrs≥1hr: 56%
Forge a new kingdom in a land recovering from the Fracture. Which of the surviving races will you lead to rebuild, explore, and conquer the unknown? The dwindling yet immortal Ancients? The bold and resourceful Humans? The life stealing Ardyn? Or the secretive Gwdir who shape living groves?
Why similar: Colony Sim 43.6% ★, Base Building 17.7%, Survival 7.5%, Crafting 7.2%, Management 5.9%
Why You'll Like It: This voxel-based colony sim draws heavy inspiration from Dwarf Fortress, focusing on survival and building in a procedurally generated world.
- #9 Sapiens
91% matchVery Positive84% of 2,103 reviews2022
Dev: Majic Jungle
Windows · Mac
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 18.0 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Create your own prehistoric civilization and lead your tribe in a world you shape. Start with nothing, build towns and industry, and advance through thousands of years of technological breakthroughs in this intimate yet expansive colony sim.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.4% ★, Base Building 14.5%, Building 7.3%, Crafting 6.4%, Survival 6.1%
Why You'll Like It: This prehistoric colony sim features a fully 3D world where you manage the growth and development of a tribe from the ground up.
- #10 Space Haven
91% matchVery Positive86% of 9,719 reviews2020
Dev: Bugbyte Ltd.
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.3 hrsMean: 20.2 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Embark on a space voyage with your ragtag crew of civilians in search of a new home. Build spaceships tile by tile, create optimal gas conditions, manage the needs and moods of their crew, encounter other space-faring groups, and explore the universe in this spaceship colony simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.2% ★, Base Building 15.7%, Building 8%, Sandbox 7.9%, Survival 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: It brings the colony-sim experience to space, focusing on ship-based survival, internal layout management, and crew interactions.
- #11 Stardeus
90% matchVery Positive87% of 1,529 reviews2022
Dev: Kodo LinijaPub: Paradox Arc
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.7 hrsMean: 22.6 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Stardeus is a deep colony sim set on a broken starship manned by drones and hibernating human survivors. As the AI, have your drones repair your ship, save your crew and travel the stars in this beautiful simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 36.5% ★, Base Building 15.3%, Sandbox 7.3%, Crafting 7.1%, Survival 7%
Why You'll Like It: A sci-fi colony sim that emphasizes automation and deep simulation in a procedurally generated space environment.
- #12 Oxygen Not Included
89% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 138,890 reviews2019
Dev: Klei Entertainment
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.9 hrsMean: 67.7 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Why similar: Colony Sim 48.7% ★, Base Building 19.9%, Survival 8.4%, Building 6.6%, Sandbox 4.6%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a deep, physics-based simulation that challenges players to manage complex systems within their colony.
- #13 Timberborn
87% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 38,007 reviews2026
Dev: Mechanistry
Windows · Mac
Median: 9.8 hrsMean: 40.3 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.6% ★, Base Building 16%, Building 9.2%, Sandbox 8.9%, Survival 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: It introduces unique water physics and vertical building mechanics that provide a fresh challenge to the traditional colony-sim formula.
- #14 Clanfolk
89% matchVery Positive92% of 3,737 reviews2022
Dev: MinMax Games Ltd.Pub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 17.3 hrs≥1hr: 68%
Clanfolk is a colony sim set in the Scottish Highlands. Harness your environment to survive - fish, gather, hunt, and farm as you prepare for the winter. Build an inn, trade with other clans, have children and marry them off - live life and prosper across the generations.
Why similar: Colony Sim 47.9% ★, Sandbox 11.5%, Building 11.5%, Crafting 11.1%, Open World 7.9%
Why You'll Like It: A medieval survival colony sim that focuses on family management and adapting to the harsh seasonal changes of the environment.
- #15 Founders' Fortune
88% matchVery Positive80% of 2,168 reviews2020
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 9.9 hrs≥1hr: 57%
A fantasy village builder focusing on creative building, colonist psychology and base defense. Handle resources, farming, production, tools, diplomacy, families, trading, defense, and research, as well as the wishes, expectations, thoughts, and equipment of every villager.
Why similar: Colony Sim 51.4% ★, Base Building 15.6%, Building 7%, Sandbox 5.7%, Survival 5.1%
Why You'll Like It: This game focuses on the social and personality-driven aspects of colony management, making it a great match for fans of Embark's Sims-like features.
- #16 Colony Survival
86% matchVery Positive92% of 8,816 reviews2017
Dev: Pipliz
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 9.6 hrsMean: 28.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Colony Survival is a unique first-person strategy game developed by a two-man team. Build your own colony in a voxel world. Command guards, farmers, miners and other colonists. Defend your colony against the horde of monsters that attacks every night!
Why similar: Colony Sim 45.4% ★, Base Building 16.5%, Survival 8.1%, Building 7.9%, Sandbox 6.4%
Why You'll Like It: A first-person colony sim that allows you to build massive settlements and manage worker jobs in a voxel world.
- #17 Farthest Frontier
84% matchVery Positive87% of 23,648 reviews2025
Dev: Crate Entertainment
Windows
Median: 9.6 hrsMean: 26.7 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to survive. Produce crafted items to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats.
Why similar: Colony Sim 44% ★, Base Building 19%, Building 15.6%, Survival 8.4%, Strategy 6.6%
Why You'll Like It: This game provides a deep, realistic survival experience with complex resource chains and city-building mechanics.
- #18 Rise to Ruins
86% matchVery Positive88% of 7,737 reviews2019
Dev: Raymond DoerrPub: SixtyGig Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 16.4 hrs≥1hr: 83%
A brutal godlike village sim that melds the god game, management, and tower defense genres! Fight off hoards of monsters at night, and expand your village in the day time. Inspired by games like Black and White, Rimworld, and Dwarf Fortress but not quite like any of them.
Why similar: Colony Sim 57.5% ★, Base Building 16%, Survival 8.5%, Strategy 6.4%, Sandbox 5.3%
Why You'll Like It: It blends god-game mechanics with traditional colony management, requiring players to balance survival with town growth.
- #19 Catizens
85% matchVery Positive82% of 366 reviews2024
Dev: badopticsgamesPub: HeroCraft PC
Windows
Median: 54 minMean: 4.9 hrs≥1hr: 44%
Inspired by RimWorld and The Sims, Catizens is a colony management simulation game where you watch over unique cats with quirky personalities, as you help them build and grow their settlement while exploring new lands, facing off against wildlife and overcoming the challenges of each environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.2% ★, Base Building 11.9%, Building 9.1%, Sandbox 8.6%, Survival 7.1%
Why You'll Like It: A charming colony sim that emphasizes individual character personalities and unique building layouts.
- #20 Astro Colony
84% matchVery Positive82% of 2,509 reviews2022
Dev: Terad Games
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 16.3 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Explore endless Universe and create the most efficient constellation of colonies. Build conveyor systems to automate production. Take care of Astronauts and their needs! Establish new colonies as part of intergalactic simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.8% ★, Base Building 22.3%, Building 8.3%, Sandbox 6.9%, Crafting 6.3%
Why You'll Like It: It focuses on automation and exploration in space, offering a more technical take on the colony-sim genre.
- #21 Gnomoria
83% matchMostly Positive75% of 3,532 reviews2016
Dev: Robotronic Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.9 hrsMean: 18.3 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Gnomoria is a sandbox village management game where you help lead a small group of gnomes, who have set out on their own, to thrive into a bustling kingdom! Anything you see can be broken down and rebuilt elsewhere.
Why similar: Colony Sim 49.5% ★, Sandbox 11%, Building 7.8%, Survival 6.5%, Crafting 6.4%
Why You'll Like It: A classic voxel-based colony sim that focuses on mining, crafting, and defending your settlement from invaders.
- #22 Planetbase
82% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,262 reviews2015
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.2 hrsMean: 26.2 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 49.3% ★, Base Building 19%, Survival 7.5%, Strategy 5.3%, Building 4.5%
Why You'll Like It: A space-themed colony sim that requires careful management of oxygen, food, and energy to keep your settlers alive.
- #23 Craft The World
82% matchVery Positive88% of 16,818 reviews2014
Dev: Dekovir EntertainmentPub: Dekovir Ltd
Windows · Mac
Median: 7.2 hrsMean: 38.5 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Craft The World is a unique sandbox strategy game, the mix of Dungeon Keeper, Terraria and Dwarf Fortress. Explore a random generated world populated by dangerous creatures, build a dwarf fortress, gather resources, and craft all the items, weapons, and armor you need.
Why similar: Colony Sim 47.8% ★, Building 11.3%, Sandbox 10.7%, Crafting 10.5%, Survival 6.9%
Why You'll Like It: It combines sandbox building with colony management, allowing you to control a group of dwarves in a side-scrolling environment.
- #24 KeeperRL
79% matchVery Positive84% of 1,766 reviews2024
Dev: Electric Succubi
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 5.3 hrsMean: 18.7 hrs≥1hr: 78%
KeeperRL is a retro dungeon simulator with roguelike and RPG elements. Take the role of an evil keeper and build a formidable dungeon. Recruit sinister minions, equip and train them to explore the world and fight the forces of good.
Why similar: Base Building 25.3%, Moddable 13.6% ★, Building 13.3%, Sandbox 12.8%, Survival 11%
Why You'll Like It: This dungeon-management game offers a deep simulation of combat and base building that feels very similar to the classic Dwarf Fortress experience.
- #25 Life is Feudal: Forest Village
81% matchMixed66% of 5,984 reviews2017
Dev: MindillusionPub: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 30.8 hrs≥1hr: 63%
LiF:Forest Village is a city builder with survival aspects in a realistic harsh medieval world. Shape, build and expand your settlement, grow various food to prevent your villagers from avitaminosis and starvation. Possess them for additional micromanagement or simply to wander around.
Why similar: Colony Sim 64.3% ★, Building 7%, Survival 6.7%, Strategy 6%, Simulation 4.2%
Why You'll Like It: It offers a realistic medieval survival experience with a focus on town management and resource gathering.
- #26 TFM: The First Men
80% matchMixed62% of 406 reviews2022
Dev: Gathering Tree
Windows
An open-world colony sim based on stories of the first men. Infinite possibilities await your very own Adam and Eve as they embark on a generation-spanning adventure. How will you shape their future?
Why similar: Colony Sim 45.9% ★, Base Building 19.1%, Building 6%, Sandbox 5.9%, Survival 4.8%
Why You'll Like It: A simulation-heavy strategy game that focuses on the development of a civilization through generations.
- #27 Occupy Mars: The Game
77% matchMostly Positive70% of 3,012 reviews2026
Dev: ▲ Pyramid Games
Windows
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 31.4 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Survive and colonize Mars in a highly technical, open-world sandbox game. Build and upgrade your base, discover new regions, conduct mining operations, retrieve water, generate oxygen, grow crops, and fix broken parts.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34% ★, Base Building 16.7%, Sandbox 9.1%, Crafting 8.6%, Building 8.6%
- #28 Banished
79% matchVery Positive90% of 42,988 reviews2014
Dev: Shining Rock Software LLC
Windows
Median: 7.8 hrsMean: 26.9 hrs≥1hr: 78%
In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource.
Why similar: Colony Sim 64% ★, Survival 8.4%, Strategy 7%, Sandbox 6.1%, Simulation 5.8%
Why You'll Like It: It is a foundational survival city-builder that emphasizes the struggle against nature and resource scarcity.
- #29 Maia
81% matchMixed44% of 1,063 reviews2018
Dev: Simon RothPub: Machine Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 30 minMean: 4.4 hrs≥1hr: 41%
Maia is a colony building game set in the not-so-distant future. Your colonists make planetfall on a hostile world and you must ensure their survival and their safety, constructing their off-world habitat from almost nothing and sheltering them from a dangerous, often deadly environment.
Why similar: Colony Sim 49.7% ★, Base Building 11.4%, Survival 7.7%, Strategy 6.2%, Simulation 5.7%
Why You'll Like It: A sci-fi colony sim that focuses on complex simulation and survival in a hostile alien environment.
- #30 Kubifaktorium
78% matchVery Positive81% of 786 reviews2021
Dev: Neomateria Games GmbH
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 62%
Build, manage and grow a thriving colony in Kubifaktorium. The game features different biomes to explore, plenty of resources to exploit, complex machinery to build and interesting production chains to master.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.4% ★, Base Building 15%, Building 9.7%, Crafting 8.5%, Management 5.8%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based game that focuses on automation and building complex supply chains within your colony.
- #31 After the Collapse
78% matchMostly Positive78% of 209 reviews2022
Dev: Anarkis Gaming
Windows
ATC is a base building game set in a post-apocalyptic world featuring urban environments. Build a base across several layers with dozens of survivors. Fight other factions for the control of the remaining production centers and explore the world to find long forgotten resources and technologies.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.9% ★, Base Building 16.5%, Survival 7.5%, Sandbox 7.5%, Moddable 6.5% ★
Why You'll Like It: A post-apocalyptic colony sim that emphasizes survival, scavenging, and base defense.
- #32 Surviving Ceres
76% matchVery Positive87% of 137 reviews2025
Dev: Ryan SaundersPub: One Man Media
Windows
Explore a handcrafted survival game with an emphasis on crafting and base building. Export manufactured goods to earn funding, manage colonists, defend against hostile aliens, and work towards terraforming Ceres from a frozen ball of ice to a tropical paradise.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.2% ★, Base Building 14.7%, Building 9.1%, Crafting 8.6%, Survival 8.3%
- #33 Land of the Vikings
75% matchMostly Positive74% of 2,203 reviews2023
Dev: Laps GamesPub: Iceberg Interactive
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 9.6 hrs≥1hr: 75%
Land of the Vikings is a survival colony sim game. Build and lead your village, and expand it into a thriving city. A wise Jarl must manage resources, survive harsh conditions, and guide their fellow Vikings to work together through social conflict. Skál!
Why similar: Colony Sim 46.5% ★, Base Building 13.4%, Building 8.3%, Sandbox 8.1%, Survival 7.8%
- #34 Exogate Initiative
74% matchMostly Positive76% of 699 reviews2025
Dev: Xeno Bits
Windows
Build and manage mankind’s first mission across the universe! Create a sprawling facility underground, recruit a diverse group of specialists from around the globe and explore mysterious new worlds through the Exogate.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.7% ★, Base Building 18.8%, Building 9.9%, Sandbox 9.5%, Management 6.7%
- #35 Mercury Fallen
75% matchMostly Positive79% of 307 reviews2023
Dev: Nitrous ButterflyPub: indie.io
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.2 hrsMean: 5.3 hrs≥1hr: 87%
A sci-fi colony management sim with a focus on exploration, expansion, and survival. Rebuild your underground facility, manage colonists and robots, and uncover the mysteries of an alien world light-years from Earth. Dig deep, expand across the surface, and shape your new home.
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.4% ★, Base Building 16.7%, Building 9%, Survival 8%, Crafting 7%
- #36 Castle Story
76% matchMixed65% of 10,510 reviews2017
Dev: Sauropod Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.1 hrsMean: 11.7 hrs≥1hr: 80%
Castle Story is a creative voxel-based strategy game in which you can build castles one brick at a time using an army of little creatures called Bricktrons. Design and build your own castles, expand your territory in a vast landscape and defend your Bricktrons against onslaughts of hostile creatures.
Why similar: Colony Sim 54.4% ★, Building 12.1%, Sandbox 9.9%, Strategy 7.1%, Survival 5.9%
- #37 Dawn of Man
74% matchVery Positive87% of 17,635 reviews2019
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 10.9 hrsMean: 29.7 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Command a settlement of ancient humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival. Hunt, gather, craft tools, fight, research new techs and face the challenges the environment will throw at you.
Why similar: Colony Sim 66.6% ★, Survival 10.7%, Strategy 7.1%, Sandbox 5.8%, Simulation 4.6%
- #38 Buoyancy
77% matchMixed56% of 820 reviews2019
Dev: Devs on a Boat
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 4.8 hrs≥1hr: 58%
Buoyancy is a city-building strategy game where you build, manage, and move a floating city on an oceanic world. Explore and scavenge resources scattered around the endless waters. Keep your villagers nourished and happy while combating fires, sickness, and pirate attacks.
Why similar: Colony Sim 63.3% ★, Base Building 14.8%, Strategy 7.1%, Survival 6.1%, Open World 3.2%
- #39 AColony
73% matchVery Positive89% of 134 reviews2023
Dev: ZeroTris
Windows
A colony building game with an emphasis on unexpected events, online co-op, and managing a unique community. Build your colony, feed your colonists, research technologies, craft advanced weapons, explore the world, fight enemies and defend your property.
Why similar: Colony Sim 41.4% ★, Base Building 17.3%, Building 8.4%, Survival 7.9%, Crafting 7.4%
- #40 Empires of the Undergrowth
70% matchVery Positive94% of 17,329 reviews2024
Dev: Slug DiscoPub: Hooded Horse
Windows · Mac
Median: 6.0 hrsMean: 18.8 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Command swarms of warriors at an unprecedented scale of warfare in this blend of RTS and base-building. Lead ant colonies against the many fearsome threats of the insect world, while building intricate nests, developing pheromone-based tactics, and evolving to meet growing dangers.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34% ★, Base Building 15.2%, Building 8.2%, Sandbox 7.9%, Moddable 7.1% ★
- #41 Edge Islands
72% matchMostly Positive76% of 94 reviews2025
Dev: LS Games
Windows
Discover a unique blend of Colony Sim and Tactical RPG. Recruit and train your heroes, build your outpost, explore dungeons and engage in turn-based strategic battles to protect and expand your domain. Shape your stories by managing moods, relationships, ambitions and more!
Why similar: Colony Sim 39.2% ★, Base Building 17.4%, Building 9%, Sandbox 7.3%, Strategy 6%
- #42 Factory Town
71% matchVery Positive91% of 4,419 reviews2021
Dev: Erik Asmussen
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 14.1 hrs≥1hr: 76%
Build, automate, and optimize a giant factory on 3D terrain using conveyor belts, trains, chutes, pipes, and airships. Sell your goods to nearby villages to expand their borders, increase happiness, and unlock even better technology!
Why similar: Colony Sim 35.5% ★, Base Building 19%, Sandbox 9.5%, Crafting 8.7%, Building 6.4%
- #43 Norland
70% matchVery Positive82% of 9,662 reviews2024
Dev: Long JauntPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 17.2 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Lead your noble family in this medieval colony sim, facing off against class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery. Tend to your people’s needs, uncover the lost knowledge of a fallen empire, and engage in nefarious plots against your enemies.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.9% ★, Base Building 15%, Building 7.9%, Sandbox 7.8%, Moddable 7.2% ★
- #44 Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation
73% matchVery Positive81% of 2,242 reviews2018
Dev: Suncrash
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 25.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Build, scavenge, craft, and perform occult rituals to survive in a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic colony simulation. Will you survive Judgment day?
Why similar: Colony Sim 43.4% ★, Base Building 17.1%, Survival 8.5%, Sandbox 5.9%, Crafting 5%
- #45 Aven Colony
73% matchMostly Positive72% of 2,731 reviews2017
Dev: Mothership Entertainment LLCPub: Team17 Digital Ltd
Windows
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 8.2 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Build a new home for humanity in Aven Colony. Discover Aven Prime - an alien planet of deserts, tundras, and wetlands light years from earth. Build your colonies into massive, sprawling cities whilst dealing with the challenges faced when settling on a new world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 62.3% ★, Base Building 14.2%, Strategy 7.3%, Simulation 5.4%, Survival 3.1%
- #46 Whiskerwood
67% matchVery Positive93% of 2,769 reviews2025
Dev: Minakata DynamicsPub: Hooded Horse
Windows
Median: 9.0 hrsMean: 15.3 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Establish a home for your industrious mice under the oppressive paw of your cat overlords in this city builder featuring complex simulations, intricate production chains, and the age-old rivalry between cat and mouse.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.8% ★, Base Building 15.2%, Building 8%, Sandbox 7.8%, Moddable 7% ★
- #47 FortressCraft Evolved!
72% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,055 reviews2015
Dev: ProjectorGamesPub: Digital Tribe
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 13.6 hrs≥1hr: 72%
FortressCraft Evolved is a unique blend of Voxel Landscapes, Tower Defense, Crafting, Logistics, Exploration, Combat and Assembly lines. Players begin by crash-landing on a strange alien world, left with only a small handful of starting machines.
Why similar: Base Building 19.7%, Sandbox 15.7%, Building 15%, Crafting 14.5%, Survival 11.1%
- #48 Hammerting
71% matchMixed57% of 2,576 reviews2021
Dev: Warpzone StudiosPub: Team17 Digital
Windows
Median: 3.7 hrsMean: 7.6 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Manage a Dwarven mining colony in the unexplored mountains of Mara. As conflict rages in the Overworld, you will need to craft, explore and fight as you provide the allies of your choice with the finest weapons and gear to assist them in the battle for glory.
Why similar: Colony Sim 44.6% ★, Base Building 19%, Building 9.7%, Crafting 8.9%, Management 6.5%
- #49 The Universim
68% matchVery Positive80% of 10,483 reviews2024
Dev: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.3 hrsMean: 33.9 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.
Why similar: Colony Sim 50.7% ★, Building 10.6%, Sandbox 10.5%, Survival 8.3%, Management 5.6%
- #50 The Crust
68% matchMostly Positive77% of 3,397 reviews2024
Dev: VEOM StudioPub: Crytivo
Windows
Median: 7.0 hrsMean: 22.5 hrs≥1hr: 83%
Automate a lunar base as you become the savior of humanity exploring the future on the moon. Mine, craft, research, and trade resources with Earth in this gripping narrative basebuilder.
Why similar: Colony Sim 41.6% ★, Base Building 19.3%, Sandbox 8.4%, Building 7.9%, Survival 5.5%
- #51 Havendock
67% matchVery Positive80% of 1,861 reviews2025
Dev: YYZ StudioPub: Pretty Soon
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 10.5 hrs≥1hr: 66%
Breathe easy and thrive in this cozy colony sim. Build a haven for castaways, manage resources, live your best life on the ocean. Lead your humble settlement into a high-tech society.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.2% ★, Base Building 15.5%, Building 8.6%, Sandbox 8.5%, Crafting 7.9%
- #52 Settlement Survival
68% matchVery Positive86% of 7,842 reviews2022
Dev: Gleamer StudioPub: Team17
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 10.8 hrs≥1hr: 80%
In this city-building game, you will lead a group of survivors in their search for a new home. Manipulate the landscape, manage limited supplies, plant crops, hunt wildlife, gather resources, and develop trade routes to build a bustling and unique town.
Why similar: Colony Sim 44.5% ★, Base Building 11.1%, Building 11%, Survival 8.7%, Sandbox 7.4%
- #53 Patron
69% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,136 reviews2021
Dev: Overseer Games
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Patron is a survival city builder with a unique social dynamics system. Gather and produce resources, build your fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach boiling point.
Why similar: Colony Sim 46% ★, Base Building 11.1%, Survival 9%, Building 6.5%, Strategy 6.3%
- #54 ASKA
66% matchMostly Positive80% of 11,320 reviews2024
Dev: Sand Sailor StudioPub: Thunderful Publishing
Windows
Median: 11.2 hrsMean: 28.4 hrs≥1hr: 87%
A new Viking age dawns with you at its helm. Forge a thriving colony from nothing in this mythic open-world survival sim. Earn the gods' favor and survive in a land ruled by ancient terrors and unforgiving seasons. Rally unique villagers, expand your settlement and defend your tribe - solo or co-op!
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.8% ★, Base Building 17.4%, Sandbox 9.3%, Survival 8.2%, Building 7.5%
- #55 Mountaincore
67% matchMixed66% of 253 reviews2025
Dev: Rocket Jump Technology
Windows · Mac · Linux
Settle an untamed wilderness with the might of Dwarven engineering and thoughtful planning! Design and build your colony towards fame and fortune in a deeply-simulated fantasy world. Chill out in peaceful mode with a bustling settlement, or fight for survival against monsters and invasions!
Why similar: Colony Sim 37.8% ★, Base Building 14.3%, Moddable 7.7% ★, Building 7.6%, Crafting 6.8%
- #56 Vilset
71% matchMostly Negative37% of 70 reviews2021
Dev: Another Reality
Windows
Vilset is a strategic simulator based on the principle of survival of people, who turned out to be beyond the limits of their civilization.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.5% ★, Base Building 17%, Building 10.2%, Survival 8%, Crafting 8%
- #57 Dawn Apart
67% matchMostly Positive73% of 239 reviews2025
Dev: Industrial Technology and WitchcraftPub: Astra Logical
Windows
Dawn Apart is a space colony and factory sim with fully destructible environments. Mine, automate, and defend your settlers, or lead a rebellion against the very corporation pulling your strings…
Why similar: Colony Sim 53.1% ★, Base Building 22.1%, Crafting 9.4%, Strategy 6%, Simulation 3.6%
- #58 Eden Crafters
66% matchVery Positive86% of 2,214 reviews2024
Dev: Osaris Games
Windows
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 13.5 hrs≥1hr: 79%
Embark on a journey of survival, crafting, and automation in Eden Crafters, a solo and co-op open-world game that challenges you to turn a hostile planet into a habitable haven for humanity. Temper the climate, create a breathable atmosphere, and turn toxic lakes into water: shape a new world!
Why similar: Colony Sim 26.9% ★, Base Building 21.1%, Crafting 10.5%, Sandbox 10.1%, Building 9.5%
- #59 Starmancer
69% matchMixed64% of 1,024 reviews2021
Dev: Ominux GamesPub: Chucklefish
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 65%
From a small 2-man team comes a unique space station management sim. Take on the role of an A.I commanding a lost space ark. Try not to let your crew run amok and wreck the place.
Why similar: Colony Sim 40.4% ★, Base Building 13.6%, Sandbox 9.9%, Building 8.8%, Survival 6.8%
- #60 Foundation
64% matchVery Positive86% of 23,481 reviews2025
Dev: Polymorph Games
Windows
Median: 11.0 hrsMean: 26.3 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Foundation is a grid-less, laidback medieval city-building game with a focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.3% ★, Base Building 12.9%, Sandbox 10.8%, Building 10.3%, Strategy 8.9%